Southern California -- this just in

The discovery of a man who police believe to be Christopher Dorner began when two maids ran into him Tuesday
morning as they arrived to clean a vacant cabin in the Big Bear area near where the fugitive
ex-cop’s car was set ablaze last week.

The two maids entered a cabin in the 1200 block of
Club View Drive, close to Snow Summit and Bear
Mountain Resort, and surprised a man who they said resembled the
fugitive, a law enforcement official said.
The man tied up the maids, and then took off in a purple Nissan parked
near the cabin, authorities said.

One of the maids was eventually able to break free and
called 911 at 12:20 p.m., officials said

A short time later, authorities said, the suspect carjacked a light-colored
pickup truck. Allan Laframboise said the truck belonged to his friend Rick
Heltebrake, who works at a nearby Boy Scout camp.

Heltebrake was driving on Glass Road with his Dalmatian, Suni, when a
hulking African American man stepped into the road, Laframboise said.
Heltebrake stopped. The man told him to get out of the truck.

"You can leave and you can take your dog," the man reportedly said. He then
sped off in the Dodge extended-cab pickup — and quickly encountered two
Department of Fish and Wildlife trucks.

As the suspect zoomed past the officers, he rolled down his window and fired
about 15 to 20 rounds, officials said. One of the officers jumped out and shot a high-powered
rifle at the fleeing truck, they said.

The suspect subsequently crashed that truck and ran into the
woods, authorities said. He ended up in a cabin, and a firefight ensued, they said. Two San Bernardino County
sheriff’s deputies were shot; one was pronounced dead at a hospital, and the other underwent surgery. Hundreds of rounds were fired in the firefight.

Just
before 5 p.m., authorities smashed the cabin's windows, pumped in tear gas and
called for the suspect to surrender. They got no response, officials said. Then, using a
demolition vehicle, they tore down the cabin's walls one by one. By the time they got to the last wall, authorities heard a
single gunshot, a source said.

Then flames began to spread through the structure, and
gunshots, probably set off by the fire, were heard, officials said.

Charred human remains have been found in the debris of the cabin, authorities said late Tuesday night.

Investigators will attempt to identify the remains through forensic means,
the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

For days, multiple law enforcement agencies from across
Southern California laid out a dragnet for the Dorner, 33, who is accused of going on a
revenge-fueled rampage following his termination from the LAPD in 2008. In
addition to the San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy who was fatally wounded
Tuesday, Dorner allegedly killed the 28-year-old daughter of a former LAPD
captain, her fiance and a Riverside police officer.